| MARINERS (61-64) | Δ Ms | WHITE SOX (68-55) | EDGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HITTING (wOBA) | -96.4 (30th) | 2.1 | -18.9 (19th) | White Sox |
| FIELDING (RBBIP) | 45.5 (2nd) | -2.2 | 27.4 (7th) | Mariners |
| ROTATION (tRA) | 16.2 (12th) | -0.5 | 18.6 (11th) | White Sox |
| BULLPEN (tRA) | 0.3 (17th) | 1.5 | -11.7 (22nd) | Mariners |
| OVERALL (RAA) | -34.4 (20th) | 0.9 | 15.4 (14th) | WHITE SOX |
| Explainer |
Let's get this sorted.
A Chicago-style hot dog is a steamed or water-simmered all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers and a dash of celery salt. It looks like this, which is to say, disgusting.
A Seattle-style hot dog is typically a polish sausage, grilled then split down the middle, while the bun is usually toasted then covered in cream cheese. Popular additions include sauerkraut, grilled onions, scallions, jalapenos and other peppers, mustard, and Sriracha sauce. It looks like this, which needless to say, is delicious.
Vote in the poll at the bottom because SBN won't let me insert the poll wherever.
| Batter | PA | P/PA | Slash line | nBB | K (sw) | 1B/2B/3B/HR | Sw% | Ct% | Qual+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J Jaso* | 38 | 4.4 | .333/.513/.741 | 10 | 2 (1) | 4 / 2 / 0 / 3 | 33 | 85 | 162.8 |
| E Thames* | 42 | 3.6 | .325/.381/.600 | 2 | 14 (8) | 7 / 3 / 1 / 2 | 52 | 72 | 172.1 |
| M Olivo | 20 | 3.4 | .350/.350/.550 | 0 | 9 (8) | 5 / 1 / 0 / 1 | 53 | 69 | 150.1 |
| M Saunders* | 46 | 3.5 | .227/.283/.523 | 2 | 8 (7) | 5 / 1 / 0 / 4 | 51 | 81 | 187.0 |
| D Ackley* | 51 | 3.6 | .286/.333/.367 | 2 | 6 (4) | 12 / 1 / 0 / 1 | 46 | 94 | 95.3 |
| J Smoak^ | 30 | 4.2 | .192/.300/.385 | 3 | 5 (3) | 2 / 2 / 0 / 1 | 46 | 88 | 62.3 |
| T Robinson^ | 41 | 3.4 | .216/.293/.297 | 4 | 7 (6) | 6 / 1 / 1 / 0 | 50 | 83 | 82.2 |
| J Montero | 35 | 3.1 | .176/.200/.441 | 1 | 4 (3) | 3 / 0 / 0 / 3 | 55 | 90 | 176.4 |
| K Seager* | 48 | 3.1 | .227/.292/.250 | 4 | 4 (4) | 9 / 1 / 0 / 0 | 52 | 83 | 34.9 |
| B Ryan | 35 | 4.2 | .161/.229/.161 | 3 | 8 (5) | 5 / 0 / 0 / 0 | 49 | 81 | 32.3 |
P/PA = pitches per PA [avg~3.8], nBB = uBB + HBP, Sw = swinging [avg~45%], Ct = contact [avg~81%], Qual+ = a measure of quality of batted balls [avg=100, higher is better]
John Jaso's last two weeks have featured ten walks to just two strikeouts. John Jaso is neat.
Brendan Ryan's walk rate with the Cardinals 2009-10: 6.4%
Brendan Ryan's walk rate with the Mariners 2011: 9.1%
Brendan Ryan's walk rate with the Mariners 2012: 11.8%
Ryan's swing rate stayed basically the same the last four years, but he does seem to have improved his eye as his swings on pitches outside the strike zone has dropped and he's taking fewer pitches for called strikes. Which is good because his current can't get hits routine would be really troublesome if not for all the walks.
| Batter | PA | P/PA | Slash line | nBB | SO (sw) | 1B/2B/3B/HR | Sw% | Ct% | Qual+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P Konerko | 25 | 3.5 | .304/.360/.739 | 2 | 5 (5) | 3 / 1 / 0 / 3 | 42 | 73 | 215.0 |
| D Wise* | 40 | 3.5 | .350/.375/.600 | 0 | 8 (7) | 10 / 1 / 0 / 3 | 50 | 79 | 133.6 |
| D Viciedo | 49 | 4.0 | .298/.327/.532 | 2 | 12 (9) | 9 / 2 / 0 / 3 | 48 | 78 | 170.2 |
| A Pierzynski* | 49 | 3.1 | .304/.327/.522 | 2 | 3 (2) | 9 / 2 / 1 / 2 | 58 | 88 | 142.8 |
| A Dunn* | 56 | 4.0 | .191/.316/.532 | 8 | 15 (12) | 3 / 1 / 0 / 5 | 44 | 74 | 203.6 |
| G Beckham | 42 | 3.6 | .237/.381/.342 | 4 | 9 (6) | 7 / 1 / 0 / 1 | 42 | 82 | 85.2 |
| A Ramirez | 49 | 3.6 | .250/.265/.500 | 1 | 8 (7) | 6 / 3 / 0 / 3 | 54 | 84 | 151.3 |
| K Youkilis | 49 | 4.1 | .200/.347/.350 | 8 | 15 (11) | 6 / 0 / 0 / 2 | 35 | 74 | 131.0 |
| A Rios | 56 | 3.6 | .179/.179/.357 | 0 | 12 (10) | 5 / 2 / 1 / 2 | 47 | 79 | 122.0 |
| A De Aza* | 30 | 3.2 | .115/.258/.154 | 4 | 9 (9) | 2 / 1 / 0 / 0 | 47 | 76 | 84.5 |
Adam Dunn has found his old groove back this year. Home runs and strikeouts. Lots of strikeouts. Dunn has actually cooled off quite a bit since the calendar turned to June. And now Dunn's 2012 stats are a lot like his 2011 ones that were horrible and awful. Consider:
Strikeouts - 35.7% ('11) to 33.9% ('12)
Walks - 15.9% ('11) to 16.5% ('12)
RBBIP - 0.245 ('11) to 0.240 ('12)
Contact rate - 69.9% ('11) to 69.4% ('12)
GB rate - 32.5% ('11) to 32.6% ('12)
But there's one big ol' difference. It's the thing Adam Dunn is supposed to do.
HR/OF - 8.3% ('11) to 24.0% ('12)
So don't let Adam Dunn hit any fly balls.
//checks upcoming Mariner starters
Kids, would you step outside for a second?
//deep breath
| MARINERS | Δ Ms | WHITE SOX | EDGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INFIELD | 26.2 (4th) | -1.4 | -0.9 (15th) | Mariners |
| OUTFIELD | 19.3 (9th) | -0.9 | 28.2 (4th) | White Sox |
| RBBIP | 0.291 (1st) | .000 | 0.297 (4th) | Mariners |
| OVERALL | 45.5 (2nd) | -2.2 | 27.4 (7th) | MARINERS |
| Explainer |
A surprising dip in the defensive ratings given that the Indians managed just five runs total in the previous series. But they had quite a few hits. In fact, the Indians had eight hits in each game. Though of the 24 hits, only two were doubles, one a home run and the other 21 were singles. With one extra runner allowed on via error, the Indians had a RBBIP of .304 for the series so now it is not surprising that the defense ticked down a touch. Facts!
24 AUG 17:10 |
||
| JAKE PEAVY | JASON VARGAS* | |
| chart | chart | |
This is among the worst situations for Jason Vargas to pitch in. How does Jake Peavy do it?
25 AUG 16:10 |
||
| JOSE QUINTANA* | BLAKE BEAVAN | |
| chart | chart | |
A lefty means finally a chance for Casper Wells to get some at bats. Hope you aren't rusty after that week off, Casper! You better make good with these three or four chances!
26 AUG 11:10 |
||
| GAVIN FLOYD | KEVIN MILLWOOD | |
| chart | chart | |
Kevin Millwood in August:
3 Aug at Yankees, 26 BF, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 64% GBs
8 Aug at Orioles, 21 BF, 3 K, 1 BB, 2 HR, 59% GBs
14 Aug vs Rays, 29 BF, 8 K, 1 BB, 0 HR, 50% GBs
20 Aug vs Indians, 25 BF, 0 K, 3 BB, 1 HR, 41% GBs
Before compiling those, I had thought that Millwood was really struggling this month. Indeed he does have a 6.26 ERA and the four home runs allowed aren't wonderful, but the overall line isn't bad. It's even kind of good with well more strikeouts than walks and lots of ground balls. Always gotta watch out for hits and runs allowed coloring your perspective.
| Reliever | BF | Str% | nBB | Ct% | K(sw) | GB% | HR | Qual- | LI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T Wilhelmsen | 40 | 63.8 | 4 | 76.7 | 9 (7) | 48.1 | 1 | 84.8 | 1.6 |
| J Kinney | 32 | 71.2 | 4 | 69.8 | 10 (10) | 38.9 | 0 | 95.0 | 1.0 |
| S Pryor | 30 | 68.8 | 1 | 64.7 | 13 (11) | 18.8 | 2 | 200.8 | 1.3 |
| O Perez* | 27 | 64.2 | 2 | 73.1 | 7 (3) | 44.4 | 0 | 59.8 | 1.6 |
| L Luetge* | 25 | 64.9 | 3 | 72.7 | 5 (3) | 52.9 | 1 | 109.5 | 0.9 |
| S Kelley | 22 | 65.6 | 1 | 81.0 | 5 (4) | 25.0 | 0 | 59.5 | 1.5 |
| C Capps | 21 | 51.0 | 5 | 76.2 | 4 (3) | 25.0 | 0 | 93.2 | 1.0 |
Str% = strike rate [avg~63%], Ct% = contact rate [avg~78%], GB% = groundball rate [avg~45%], Qual- = a measure of quality of batted balls [avg=100, lower is better], LI = leverage [avg~1.2]
The bullpen has gone through a bit of a turbulent patch the last week or so. Not that they've been bad, but instead they've been merely average when they have the potential, clearly, for much more. Luckily, they haven't been needed much.
| Reliever | BF | Str% | nBB | Ct% | K(sw) | GB% | HR | Qual- | LI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B Myers | 56 | 65.3 | 3 | 81.9 | 7 (6) | 47.8 | 1 | 113.5 | 1.5 |
| M Thornton* | 39 | 62.2 | 2 | 82.1 | 5 (4) | 46.9 | 1 | 110.1 | 2.0 |
| A Reed | 39 | 67.5 | 2 | 79.2 | 10 (8) | 40.7 | 1 | 121.1 | 2.4 |
| J Crain | 38 | 59.4 | 4 | 78.3 | 13 (9) | 33.3 | 1 | 108.7 | 1.6 |
| N Jones | 34 | 60.8 | 4 | 82.8 | 4 (3) | 53.8 | 1 | 125.3 | 1.3 |
| P Humber | 28 | 64.0 | 3 | 68.8 | 10 (7) | 40.0 | 1 | 110.0 | 0.5 |
| H Santiago* | 24 | 55.4 | 5 | 90.0 | 4 (4) | 33.3 | 1 | 120.4 | 0.7 |
Phil Humber is in the bullpen now. That's kind of embarrassing, right? For the Mariner hitters I mean, not for you.
Among the Lookout Landing-sphere, is Matt Thornton the original "why do they always get better...?" guy? Or was he the original "I don't care, I'm just happy he's gone." guy? Or both? Gee, he's been a successful part of the White Sox bullpen for a long time now. How many of us are still here that remember Death Spiral?
Series Drink: Old Schoolhouse Ruud Awakening
It's a hefty IPA so I realize some people will groan and roll their eyes. Yes, the ultra-IBUs are a passing trend. That doesn't mean it cannot sometimes be refreshing though and with a sudden temperature drop in the weather, I've found that I have a bit of a taste for something bitter but still light.
The other thing is that I wanted to feature a beer from Old Schoolhouse because they're from Winthrop. Do you know where Winthrop is? It's so far away! I'm intensely curious about what living there would be like. What do you do if you have to fly to like Chicago or some place? Can you tell I've never lived far from a major airport?